Longmont may cut water rental again

For the second straight year, Longmont may stop up its water rental to the St. Vrain and Left Hand water conservancy district. And this time it's flood rather than drought that's to blame.

Ken Huson, the city's water resources administrator, said he would recommend the move despite a heavy mountain snowpack that would normally mean more water for the city.

"With our flood recovery going on, we still don't have all our water resources up and running," Huson said. "It doesn't make sense for us to let go of water too early."

That recovery includes the removal of logs and other woody debris that were left in Ralph Price Reservoir by September's flood. The city has cleared debris from Longmont Reservoir and restored the flood-damaged North St. Vrain Pipeline.

The St. Vrain and Left Hand district leases its water as "augmentation water" to farmers who need more than they can get through their normal irrigation priority.

A formal recommendation is planned to reach the city's water board in April and the City Council in May. The decision could be reviewed later in the summer, Huson said, depending on how the water supply looks.

Longmont canceled its rental to the conservancy district in 2013 as well, with the city's water supply near the boundary for a Level 1 drought. That hits when the city's supply drops to 135 percent of demand, meaning there's still a cushion of 35 percent more water than residents use. Longmont's supply at the time was at 137 percent.

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Huson does still expect to rent water to the St. Vrain Valley School District, which is ahead of St. Vrain and Left Hand in line.

On Friday, Longmont will learn how much water it will get from the Colorado-Big Thompson supply, the system that sends Western Slope water to the Front Range and the Eastern Plains. In a normal year, the city would get a 70 percent quota, meaning it could draw seven-tenths of an acre-foot for every share it holds.

Huson said he was expecting to see a 70 or 80 percent share this year.